In the middle ages, no doubt serfs worked the land, stared out over the horizon, and dreamed of a day when people could spend their time indoors without having to toil in the fields for an extended period of time thanks to technology. Life is Feudal allows you to go back to the backbreaking labor of farming from within the aforementioned comfort of your own home. And farming is, in fact, complicated; you can learn all about it from the latest video about the game.

Players will want to carefully inspect the soil and the climate before setting up fields, making sure that the soil is fertile and that the right sorts of seeds are being planted. Snowy regions are great for trees, for example, but they’re not the sort of place to plant cabbage. From there you’ll forage for seeds in the wilderness, fertilize your fields, and… well, the video will cover all of it. It’s pretty involved, but when it’s all said and done, you can enjoy the technological fruits of your imagined labor.

While Life is Feudal MMO has existed for only 10 days on Steam early access, players have been testing the online title for considerably longer. To emphasize all of the community activity in the title to date, the studio put together an infographic video that shows some impressively big numbers covering all of this activity.

These stats include 53.5K characters with houses, 42.7K players in guilds, 200K player-created buildings populating the world, 7 million crafted items, and 12% of the world’s territory claimed. Of weird interest is the fact that while players have planted four million trees, they’ve cut down five million in their endless pursuit of lumber. Probably going to be an issue there before too long.

The video’s below, along with our own hands-on tours of the game since launch.

It was a slow start last time as Massively OP’s MJ spent her first day back in Life is Feudal: MMO just seeing how far she could run and admiring the awesome shipwrecks. This time, she’s following instructions to head to the village and talk to people. Interacting with others always ends up leading to some sort of excitement (and possibly death). And hey, she can make traps! Surely that will be exciting… depending on what she traps. Come to think of it, that could also lead to death. Tune in live at 8:00 p.m. to see how long MJ can actually avoid death.

So it looks like things are not all roses and light behind the scenes for Chronicles of Elyria, as the studio has apparently let several of its team members go. How many? We don’t have an exact number, just a knowledge that the team had apparently doubled in sized and is now notably reduced. Here’s hoping for the best for the people affected by the layoffs.

Other beta news? Perhaps even happier news? Sure thing. We can do that.

We can’t promise that our list below is all good news. It’s a list. It organizes entries in list format. But you can still take a look at it, and if something on that list is inaccurate, you can let us know and we can fix it. Is that good news? Maybe!

Early access for the Life is Feudal: Your Own version has been out a couple of years, but now the MMO has finally hit early access on Steam. That gives Massively OP’s MJ a great reason to launch in and see how things are going. Tune in live at 7:00 p.m. to check things out with her.

Builder-centric sandbox Life is Feudal has officially launched into early access with a buy-in of $29.99, and that’s the MMO version, mind you, not the Your Own survival sandbox. Consider it a bit like part two of the open beta, which has been running since autumn after initially being plagued by exploits and bugs.

“The Steam version contains all the features and content of the currently active Open Beta version, which means Steam users can join the tens of thousands of Open Beta players already building homes, keeps, and castles in the game. They will also be able to work with those same players to forge alliances that will over time form mighty guilds who control vast kingdoms. There’s a place for every type of player in Life is Feudal: MMO, from the butcher or baker, to the royal guard, regal knights, vassals and kings or queens.”

Last month, Bitbox implied it had “tens of thousands of players” romping through the game, though reviews are mixed; in the most recent reviews, players seem to be complaining chiefly about expensive P2W microtransactions, bugs, confusion, and grind.

On this week’s show, Bree and Justin dig into the allied races that are coming soon to World of Warcraft, the non-race of the City of Heroes spiritual successors, meaty early 2018 patches, and more!

It’s the Massively OP Podcast, an action-packed hour of news, tales, opinions, and gamer emails! And remember, if you’d like to send in your own letter to the show, use the “Tips” button in the top-right corner of the site to do so.

Here we are, in the untamed wilderness of 2018! It feels a lot like 2017 so far, except that it’s a year later. Also, at least here, it’s buried under snow. Also, Global Adventures has moved into its closed beta test, which is new. You can get in on that, although you should feel fairly warned that it’s going to have a wipe prior to open beta, so fairly warned be ye.

For the most part, it seems that studios were still remembering that they have to get back to work if they’re going to enjoy the new year. But we still had some movement on the beta front, so that’s all right. Examples of such are listed below.

That’s not a bad way to kick off the year, huh? There’s going to be more this year, we’re sure, but we’ve still got a list past the break of the games we know to be in testing. If something has skipped into launch or seems to have quietly shuttered while evading our notice, do let us know down in the comments. It’s very helpful and we appreciate it.

Not to be confused with the Your Own sandbox, Life is Feudal MMO is, well, the full-fledged MMORPG that uses the same basic setup but in a much larger and more socially expansive environment. The MMO takes place in a 21-square kilometer world with changing weather, time of day, and seasons.

The big hook of this game is that every structure aside from the starting town will be shaped and built by players. The studio released a video to show how players could conceivably go from a humble hut to a grand castle over the course of their adventures.

It’s the season for giving, the season for loving, and the season to put feuds behind us. But don’t neglect Life is Feudal, oh no, because Festive Feudal Fetes has taken over the poor villages of the land.

The fantasy sandbox claims that it has prepared “an authentic celebration ceremony” that involves making “meaningful gestures” for friends and guildies.

OK, to be honest, we have no idea what this fledgling MMO’s holiday event is about, because the team isn’t laying out specifics. So enjoy the following sentimental video and see if you can suss out the spirit of the event.

Another December, another Steam sale to entice you to spend money on games you don’t have time to play just to have them for a rainy day! Here’s a quick look at what’s on the list for MMO and survival sandbox players.

It’s that time of year again where the airwaves of certain radio stations are clogged with the same songs from the 1950s, television broadcasts are filled with specials about the nature of giving, and dozens of people exclaim that Die Hard is a holiday film due to its timeframe. Yes, it’s the holiday season, and whatever you celebrate, you cannot retreat into your favorite MMO without seeing plenty of red suits, white trim, and all sorts of associated antics.

So, where will you hang your gaming hat this year? Probably in much the same place as usual, but if you’re curious about which games are running which events, we have you covered with our roundup just below.

So how’s the Life is Feudal MMO doing since it hit open beta a few weeks ago? The login issues and emergency game wipe aside, it’s apparently attracted a decent number of players. In a press release just before the weekend, developer Bitbox implies the game has “tens of thousands of players” romping through its “massive open playground in a huge medieval world.” Indeed, it’s also released a new trailer demoing what “thousands” of gamers have built since the start of the open beta. Stone keeps and thatched-roof huts for days. I even spied a snowman in there.